This
exhibition, the third in a series organized by Helen C. Evans
at the Metropolitan Museum on Byzantium, is gigantic. The sumptuous
catalogue runs almost 650 pages and contains about 800 good color
reproductions, not only of the 350 objects in the show from 129
collectors and institutions in thirty countries, but also of other
treasures that could not be included in the show as well important
Byzantine architectural sites.

In a statement in the catalogue, Bartholomew by the Mercy of God
Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch
wrote that "The period of 1261 to 1557 is characterized by
the territorial shrinkage of the Byzantine Empire and the fall
of the Queen of Cities, Constantinople, as well as Thessalonike."
"During those difficult and trying hours," he continued,
"the fervor of faith in Christ escalated to new heights,
and the pious people of the Empire, more than ever before, placed
their hope in God's assistance and in the protection of the Most-Holy
Theotokos, the Mother of God, the Directress and their All-Blessed
Champion General. In order to draw strength they looked upon their
Crucified Lord and reflected upon the anticipated Resurrection
that follows the Cross. Inevitably, therefore, the art of those
days was characterized by sorrow and yet by hope. In ecclesiastical
terminology, we use the term 'bright-sadness.' This refers to
a mixed emotion of joy, over the anticipated help from God and
salvation, and sorrow, for the suffering of life and sin. This
bright-sadness accurately characterizes the later period of Byzantine
ecclesiastical art, iconography, music and architecture. Likewise,
it influenced the art during the Ottoman Empire and especially
during its first century. The Soldier Saints George, Demetrios,
the Theodores, and others were the most beloved Saints of the
Byzantines during those difficult years. They inspired optimism
and comfort by the mere thought that they were present, supporters
of the faithful who were undergoing danger and tribulation. Almost
every city and town has a church dedicated to a Soldier Saint,
and especially to Saint George, as well as to the Theotokos, for
she was the Champion General of the faithful."

Philippe de Montebello, the director of the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, provides the following commentary in his foreword to the
catalogue:

"When the city of Constantinople fell in 1204 to the Fourth
Crusade, nearly nine hundred years of Byzantinium's artistic and
cultural traditions were abruptly terminated. The long-established
power and patronage of the imperial center were dispersed to regional
outposts, including Nicea (Iznik), Trebizond (Trabzon), Thessalonike,
Epiros, and Mistra. As the triumphant Byzantine general Michael
VIII Palaiologos entered a re-claimed Constantinople on August
12, 1261, carrying aloft the famed icon of the Virgin Hodegetria,
the city's eternal protector, he initiated an artistic and intellectual
flowering in the `Empire of the Romans' the basileia ton Rhomaion
and among its East Christian rivals that would endure for nearly
300 years."

Describing the show as the "the first major museum exhibition
to concentrate solely on the great resurgence of the Palaiologan
period and the subsequent appropriation of this culture by rival
claimants to power," Mr. de Montebello maintained that "These
extraordinary works, some seen only rarely and others never shown
outside the churches and monasteries that have preserved them
through succeeding centuries, are among these nations' most cherished
artistic treasures. Splendid frescos, textiles, gilded metalwork,
mosaics, elaborately decorated manuscripts, and rich liturgical
objects from throughout the world of Byzantinium, as well as major
works from European and Islamic traditions that reflect their
influence, demonstrate the unique cross-cultural fertilization
that occurred during the Late Byzantine era. In addition, forty
magnificent icons from the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine in
the Sinai join others from leading institutions across the world
in a remarkable display of these compelling religious images.
'Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)' unfolds at the Metropolitan
as the third wing of a `triptych' of exhibitions dedicated to
a fuller understanding of the art of the Byzantine Empire, whose
cultural and political influence spanned more than a millennium.
In the late 1970s the Museum explored the early centuries of Byzantium's
history in `Age of Spirituality.' In 1997 the landmark presentation
`The Glory of Byzantium' focused on the art and culture of the
Middle Byzantine era (843-1261).We are particularly honored by
the exceptional support offered by Greece. Mistra, in the Peloponnese,
was the last outpost of the basileia ton Rhomaion to fall
to the Ottomans. Like many other Greek monasteries and cultural
centers, such as Thessalonike, it produced profoundly moving religious
art and at the same time encouraged a revival of classical learning
that inspired the Renaissance in Italy."

Indeed, one of the biggest surprises of the exhibition is its
last gallery, which is filled with many great Renaissance devotional
paintings from Europe, and this gallery alone is worth a visit
to the museum even if its connection to Byzantium is not very
obvious.

In her catalogue essay, Ms. Evans notes that "In 1557 the
name of the empire, basileia ton Rhomaion, was replaced
with the term Byzantium, by which the state is still known today."
"The German scholar Hieronymus Wolf (1516-1580), librarian
and secretary for the Fugger Family in Augsburg, created the Latin
neuter word Byzantium from Byzantion, the name of the ancient
Greek town near whose site Constantinople was founded. In doing
so, he recognized the many centuries that the culture of Constantinople
had been closely allied with its Hellenistic, or Greek, originsIn
the early sixteenth century, that authority was vividly evoked
by Filofei, abbot of the Eleazer Monastery in Pskov, when he wrote
to the Russian czar Vasily III (r. 1509-33) that with the fall
of Constantinople, Moscow was the new, and final, Rome. Far beyond
the borders of the Orthodox world, other political entities also
sought to be the New Rome. The Ottomans identified themselves
as its heir by virtue of their conquest of Constantinople and
wished to reunite the imperium by capturing the Old Rome in Italy.
Western rulers, by embracing the learning of the scholars of the
Byzantine Empire, their texts, and the images of its church, facilitated
the development of the Renaissance while ensuring that they too
could claim to be the inheritors of the empire's past. The revived
patronage of the arts under the Palaiologoi led to the increasing
popularity of relatively new media, such as miniature mosaic and
large steatite icons, and to the development of new styles. Most
exceptional among these styles is a figure type in which voluminous
folds of fabric envelop often apparently weightless bodies. In
the thirteenth century, several Orthodox centers sought to achieve
for themselves the imperial and ecclesiastical authority of Constantinople,
as did a number of small Latin-ruled states. Each encouraged the
arts, to ensure that its capital appropriately reflected its ruler's
ambitions. Nicaea, in Asia Minor, where the first Ecumenical Council
of the Christian Church was called by the emperor Constantine
the Great in 325, succeeding in becoming the capital in exile
after 1204. Nicaea fell to Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Turkish
State, in 1331, but Trebizond, an important port on the Black
Sea, remained under the rule of a branch of an earlier imperial
dynasty, the Komnenoi, until 1461. After Constantinople, the second
city of the empire was Thessalonike, in Greece, a major trading
center critical to the ambitions of all who wished to control
the Balkans. Thessalonike sought to remain loyal to Constantinople
and to the great Orthodox monastic center of Mount Athos but was
dominated at various times both directly and indirectly by the
Serbian state, the Venetians, and the Catalans; yet it would be
1430 before it was overtaken by the emerging Ottoman Empire. The
despotate of Epiros in central Greece flourished briefly as an
independent Orthodox rival to Constantinople before falling to
a succession of conquerors, including Serbs, Italians, and ultimately
the Ottoman Turks in the mid-fifteenth century. As Byzantine rule
from Constantinople increasingly disintegrated into intense competition
for the mantle of its power among its various constituencies,
one of the most important unifying factors for the Orthodox world
was Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain, west of Constantinople in
the north of Greece. Anchorite monks, who pursued lives of individual
asceticism, began assembling there about 800. Cenobitic monasticism
(a type of communal monastic life followed by Orthodox monks)
arrived there by the mid-tenth century.Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas
(r. 963-69) established the Great Lavra, the penisula's preeminent
monastery, in 963. The Holy Mountain remained under imperial control
until 1312, when it was made subordinate to the ecumenical patriarch
in Constantinople, the most stable element in the empire.The concluding
centuries of Orthodox rule in Constantinople were marked by the
loss of more and more Christian territory to the Islamic rule
of the Seljuks, Mongols, and Turks of the East. When Constantinople
ultimately fell on May 29, 1453, to the Ottoman rule Mehmed II
(r. 1451-81), it was said the skies wept. With the defeat, the
basileia ton Rhomaion as a Christian state ended. The great
Church of Hagia Sophia became a mosque. Earlier, the Seljuks had
recognized the importance of their conquest of territories of
the basileia ton Rhomaion by naming their new state carved
from those lands the Sultanate of Rum (the Romans). Into the reign
of Suleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520-66), there would still be
discussion of reestablishing one rule over the Mediterranean basin
by reunited the two Romes.The new Ottoman rules did not destroy
the Orthodox Church but increasingly isolated it as they sought
to pacify those they had conquered. As a result of the conquest
of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade and the rule of the city
by the Latin Kingdom until 1261, many of the city's greatest relics
were taken to the West. The relic of the Holy Blood treasured
in Bruges, in Flanders, is thought to have been sent by the first
Latin emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin of Flanders, to his daughter
Jeanne, countess of Flanders. The most precious Byzantine relics,
kept in the Holy Chapel of the imperial palace, were acquired
by King Louis IX of France (r. 1226-70); canonized 1297) from
his cousin Baldwin II of Courtenay (r. 1228-61), the last of the
Latin rulers. When the relics of Christ's Passion the Crown of
Thorns, the holy sponge and the lance, and portions of the True
Cross arrived in Paris in 1241, Louis built the luminous Sainte-Chapelle
(Holy Chapel) to provide them with a setting surpassing that in
which they had been housed in Constantinople.Emperor John VIII
Palaiologos journeyed to Ferrara and Florence with an immense
retinue in 1438-39 to sign papers of union in the hope of military
aid against the Ottoman. In the end, this union, too, was a failure.
John's citizens and other Orthodox peoples, including the Russians,
intensely rejected it, and the desired military support form the
West was not forthcoming.In the same period, Italian mercantile
city-states, including Venice, Pisa, and Genoa, came to dominate
the commercial life of the eastern MediterraneanIn 1204 Venice
acquired Crete, where a cosmopolitan Byzantine-Italian culture
developed. Icon painters worked in both the Byzantine and Western
Iconographic traditions and styles.In the late fourteenth century,
there was a revival of classical learning in Mistra. One of its
leading figures, George Gemistos Plethon (1360-1452), encouraged
a new interest in the classical philosophers, especially Plato,
and formulated a revival of worship of ancient Hellenistic gods.
Plethon accompanied Emperor John VIII Palaiologos to the Council
of Ferrara-Florence, where his lectures on Plato are thought to
have inspired Cosimo de' Medici's founding of the Platonic Academy.
In the arts, Italian and other European sources were most interested
in Byzantine works that could be considered connected to the earliest
history of the Church. Depictions of the Virgin and Child were
especially prized for their presumed association with the images
of the Holy Family believed to have been painted from life by
Saint Luke. One image associated with the legend was Constantinople's
icon of the Virgin Hodegetria, which represents an early iconographic
tradition."

The donors
depicted in this very fine work are believed to be Constantine
Akropolites and hisspouse, Maria Komnene Tornikina Akropolitissa
who was called Palaiologina. The Hodgetria pose, the catalogue
notes, "is based on the most sacred icon, one that was formerly
preserved at the Hodegon Monastery in Constantinople and first
venerated in Russia during the pre-Mongol period. According to
tradition, a copy of the Hodegon icon was brought to Russia by
the Greek princess Anna, daughter of the emperor Constantine IX
Monomachos (r. 1042-55), who became the wife of the Chernigov
prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich. Their son, Vladimir Monomach, the
prince of Smolensk, Kiev, and Pereyaslavl, inherited the icon,
which was eventually placed in the Dormition Cathedral there,
where it was called the Hodegetria of Smolensk. During the fifteenth
century in Moscow, a special devotional cult arose dedicated to
the Smolensk Hodegetria. Among the copies created of this holy
icon were those by Dionysius and the painters in his circle.This
icon, with its Byzantine thringion/riza, can be compared to Greek
icons of the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries in its iconography
(the frontality of the figures and the presence of archangels
in the upper corners). At the same time, it also possess traits
of those copies of the Smolensk Hodegetria revered in Russia.
It is probable that its original icon either was greatly damaged
or simply disintegrated. The new icon was painted specifically
to fit the old thringion. The icon was given to the Trinity-Saint
Sergius Monastery, the most important one in Moscow, which was
under the special patronage of the city's grand princes. According
to the monastery inventory of 1641, this icon was one of the most
venerated images. In light of the hypothesis that the House of
the Great Princes of Moscow was involved in the commissioning
of the new icon, it seems reasonable to assume that the painter
would be Dionysius, the most famous icon painter of the last quarter
of the fifteenth century."

Icon
with the Virgin Hodegetria, Thessalonike, 1360-70, tempera and
gold on wood, prepared with canvas and gesso, 35 3/8 by 28 inches,
The Holy Monastery of Vlatadon, Thessalonike

The Virgin
Hodegetria icon was famous for allegedly being miraculous and
it was destroyed by the Ottoman Turks during the fall of Constantinople
in 1453. This lovely icon is of the same type and the catalogue
maintains that "the firm composition, the accurate design,
the calm yet magnificent attitude, and other elements, such as
the subtle tonal harmonies in the rendering of the faces and the
rays of white lights, date the Vlatadon Monastery icon to the
1360s and place it among the most important works of the period,
along with the icons of Christ Pantokrator in the Athonite monastery
of the same name, in Saint Petersburg, Veroia, and Mytiline. The
luxurious details of the garments of the holy persons are impressive.
Dense gold rays highlight the dark blue chiton and the deep red
himation of Christ. Equally elegant is the wine-red maphorion
of the Virgin, the golden details of which include stripes, three
stars and tassels, as well as the lines from Psalm 44 (45) on
the right shoulder. This last element indicates the influence
of mariological poetry on painting, which then goes on to appear
in works that were painted in Macedonia, Epiros, and the Balkans.
More precisely, the icon from the Vladaton Monastery is the oldest
known work on which this inscription from the Psalms appears."

Icon
with the Holy Virgin Pelagonitissa, by Makariya Zograf, Late Byzantine,
1421-2, tempera on wood, 53 by 37 by 1 5/8 inches, Museum of Macedonia,
Skopje

If the above
two icons represent classic poses and aesthetics, this icon is
more unusual in the animated poses of the Virgin and Child and
is notable for its very sinuous style. The catalogue observes
that this icon is "considered a variation of the Virgin of
Tenderness (Glykophilousa)," adding that "The infant
Christ hugging his mother with his back turned to the viewer characterizes
this type, a gesture that boosts the drama of the mother worried
for her frightened child who is threatened with martyrdom. This
image, conveying the heightened emotions of the mother and the
child, is also related to another iconographic type, the Holy
Virgin of Sorrows (Passion). It is believed that the image and
the topographic epithet were created, following older Slavic traditions,
in monasteries in the Pelagonia region of Macedonia, most probably
during the time of the mid-ninth-century Slavic missionaries Cyril
and Methodios. This iconographic type, regardless of the appellation,
appears on fresco icons. Other well-known older icons of the Holy
Virgin Pelagonitissa are found at Veroia, Hilandar, Decani, and
Priuzren, and one early example of Macedonian origin from the
fifteenth century is in the collection of the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Sinai.Other works by Makariya are found in the vicinity
of Prilep and in Serbia. In the history of medieval art in Macedonia,
the icon of the Holy Virgin Pelagonitissa has been considered
one of the last outstanding achievements of icon painting, a representative
of the then still-living tradition of Byzantine iconography."

This charming
small triptych depicts the Virgin and Child in the central panel
in the manner of Madre della Consolazione that, the catalogue
notes, "was painted by Cretan artists during the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries," adding that "The type may
have been established by Nikolaos Tzafouris, who may also be the
artist responsible for this triptych, as his painting is characterized
by the same combination of Byzantine and Western iconographic
and stylistic elements. The left wing portrays the apostles Peter
and Paul embracing, a scene associated with the Union of Churches
that was proclaimed in 1439. The portrayal, possibly created by
the Cretan artist Angelos Akotantos, is in an austere Byzantine
style and may be a copy of an original by Angelos painted by Andrea
Ritzos.On the obverse of the right panel two anonymous Western
deacons, beardless and with short hair and tonsure, are painted
in a Gothic manner. Clothed in red sticharia with gold embroidery,
the pair must represent Saints Stephen and Lawrence. According
to an account of a posthumous miracle, the healing of exorcism
of Eudoxia, the daughter of Emperor Theodosius, the two were buried
together in the same tomb in Rome. This pair of Roman saints works
well as a pendant to the embrace of Peter and Paul on the other
side."

Icon
with the Nativity, Byzantine, first quarter of the 15th Century,
tempera and gold on wood, priming on textile, 25 7/8 by 25 inches,
Rena Andreadis Collection, Athens

A very fine
and charming icon of the Nativity that was once in the Volpi Collection
in Venice and is now in the Rena Andreadis Collection in Athens
has a complex and circular composition contained within an arched
frame. "The apparently fortuitous shape of the central rock
is the vehicle used to structure and display the subsidiary scenes.
It forms an unobstrusive but well-defined frontier between heaven
and earth, with the angels above and mankind below. The newborn
Child, lying in the area between, belongs to both worlds, both
doctrinally and pictorially. The cave and the sarcophagus-like
cradle make a clear allusion to the future burial of Christ. Another
hint of Christ's coming Passion is given by the sword-shaped light-blue
ray directed from heaven at the heart of the reclining Virgin.
The circular structure of the scene is given special emphasis
by the semicircle of the sky. The azure band along its edge originally
contained an inscription in Greek traces of which are still visible.
This was later covered by a Latin inscription in large lettering,
part of which is still visible. This Nativity has strong affinities
with two all paintings of the same subject in churches in Mistra.
Similar stylistic features are also found in Cretan wall paintings
dated to the early fifteenth century and in a series of portable
icons from the same period. Affiliations with contemporary Italian
painting, evident in details such as the naturalistic treatment
of the animals at the manger, and especially their mature and
harmonious inclusion in a purely Byzantine canvas, are impressive
but not surprising"

What is particularly striking about this icon is its highly animated
composition with horsemen rushing up the hill on the left and
dogs rushing down the hill on the right and the highly stylized
treatment of the hill's rocks, particularly on either side of
the central waterfall.

A smaller
and later Nativity icon also has a rather similar highly stylized
treatment of rocks on a hill. It also is extremely charming particularly
with its portrayal of an old man in the lower left central section
and the bending angels at the top right corner. In this depiction,
the magi are represented as equestrians, following a Byzantine
archetype seen, for example, the twelfth-century Nativity icon
from the Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, and the mosaics
dated 1312-15 from the Church of the Holy Apostles in Thessalonike.
A distinctive feature of the present icon is its light turquoise
background. The color scheme, relatively rare in Russian icon
painting, imparts a festive quality to the work."

The holy
martyrs represented in this very elegant work, Boris and Gleb,
were sons of Prince Vladimir I, known as the Baptizer of Rus',
according to the catalogue. "They were treacherously murdered
in 1015 by their elder half brother (or cousin) Svjatopolk. The
iconography of the two saints took shape soon after their canonization,
which probably occurred after 1037. The cult of Boris and Gleb
was established in Rus' under the auspices of their brother Iaroslav
The Wise, grand prince of Kiev. The growth of their cult in Kiev
was furthered by the translation of their relics to Vyshgorod,
on the city's outskirts, and their interment at the Church of
Saint Basil. Medieval texts praise the two as defenders of the
Russian land against the infidels. This icon was formerly part
of the most notable icon collection in fin-de-siècle Russia,
that of the historian and paleographer Nikolai P. Likhachev (1862-1936)."

Another
Boris and Gleb icon is a stunning egg tempera on lime wood with
a silver-gilt revetment that is in the collection of the Novgorod
Integrated Museum-Reservation. "Images of pairs of mounted
military saints," the catalogue observed, "began to
appear in the thirteenth centuryand became widely popular in the
art of the Byzantine world.The Novgorod icon embodies the highest
ideals of late-fourteenth-century Novgorod painting: a heroic
and triumphal image, an expressive composition and pictorial order,
and a highly decorative presentation. Here one can also see new
pictorial features that reflect the influence of late Palaiologan
art: harmonious drawing, complex multilayered painting, and an
expanded color palette."

Icons
from an Iconostasis, John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian
by Daniil Chernyi and Andrei Rublei, Vladimir, Russia, both tempera
and gold on wood, 10 feet 3 ¼ inches by 41 3/8 inches,
circa 1408, State Tret'iakov Gallery, Moscow

These large
icons come reportedly from the Cathedral of the Dormition (Uspenskii)
in Vladimir, Russia and the catalogue observes that it is "likely"
they were "painted at the same time as the fresco decoration
of the cathedral," adding that "Opinions of scholars
differ regarding the attribution of particular icons to either
Andrew Rublev or Daniil Chernyi." "At the beginning
of the fifteenth century a Deesis tier of the iconostasis with
full-length figures was a novelty, and this one, so huge in size,
had no parallels. The icon of Gregory the Theologian seen here
is the most ancient image in Russia of that saint presented as
part of a full-tiered Deesis tier," the catalogue entry noted.

Icon
with the Battle of Novgorod and Suzdal' (also called the Icon
with the Miracle of the Virgin Orans), tempera on limewood panel,
65 by 47 ¼ inches, circa 1475, Novgorod Integrated Museum-Reservation,
Russia

This extremely
fine and interesting icon depicts the battle at Novgorod in 1170.
The catalogue notes that Archbishop John (r. 1165-86) had a "revered
Novgorod icon of the Virgin Orans (depicted in the top register
of this icon) transferred from the Church of the Savior on Elijah
Street to the vicinity of Saint Sofia Cathedral and mounted on
the wall of the fortress." "One of the arrows of the
Suzdal' soldiers hit the image of the Virgin Mary (as seen in
the middle register)," the catalogue entry continued, adding
that "The icon turned its face to the city, and tears started
to run from the eyes of the Virgin. Darkness covered the army
of the besiegers. Stunned, the men of Suzdal' panicked and began
attacking each other. As a result, they were soon defeated by
the men of Novgorod. In the lower register the Novgorodians are
shown under the protection of the archangel Michael, the commander
of heaven's army, who flies before them, and four haloed saints
on horseback the Russian saints Alexander Nevsky, Boris, Gleb,
and the military saint George, the bringer of victory lead them
into battle."

The catalogue
notes that the 12 mosaics in this impressive diptytch "follow
the canonical sequence of the twelve Great Feast daysin the ecclesiastical
year," adding that "what particularly distinguishes
the panels is that each combines six square miniaturesthat could
sand as independent pictures. Down to the smallest detail, all
the figures and the landscape and architectural staffage are most
carefully composed. The result is a classical balance of the highest
order, which by itself is evidence of the extraordinary artistry
of the miniatures. Among surviving mosaic icons, the Florentine
diptych marks the high point of the so-called Palaiologan renaissance.
The only comparable mosaic icons are the London Annunciation,
the almost completely destroyed mosaic icon of John the Precursor
in Venice, and the somewhat earlier Berlin Crucifixion" (which
is also included in the exhibition).

An even
more dazzling miniature mosaic, albeit a bit larger, is a Portable
Mosaic Icon with Saint John Chrysostom, circa 1325, in the collection
of Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.

The catalogue provides the following commentary about this work:

"Saint John was a brilliant preacher whose renowned oratorical
skills earned him the epithet chysostomos, 'golden mouthed.'
Named bishop of Constantinople in 398, he is shown wearing Episcopal
vestments.His large, cross-decorated halo is distinctive because
it is rendered in relief a unique instance among surviving miniature
mosaics. This highly individualized portrait conforms to the ascetic
image of the saint as an emaciated older man that was established
as early as the eleventh century. Characteristic are the high,
wrinkled forehead, balding head, sunken cheeks, and short, sparse
forked beard. White highlights that project higher than the tesserae
of the flesh tones emphasize his deeply furrowed brow. Given their
technical virtuosity and the use of precious materials, miniature
mosaics were most likely made in, and for, a court milieu. Despite
the small size of the icon, the saint has a monumental quality."

Equally
engaging is a fine circular miniature mosaic of Saint George Slaying
the Dragon that is in the collection of the Musée du Louvre
in Paris. "The round form of the medallion was traditionally
reserved for frontal half figures, notably images of the Pantokrator
and Theotokos as well as depictions of saints and emperor portraits,"
the catalogue noted, adding that "Only rarely do we find
in round formats (including cameos, rings, and seals) either full-figure
portraits or scenic depictions like Saint George's battle with
the dragon. The outstanding artistry of this mosaic tondo is evident
above all in the superb composition and the delicacy of the painterly
details.This is the only tondo among surviving mosaic miniatures."

Some of the most spectacular images in this enormous show are
illustrated manuscripts. A sparkling tempera on parchment portrait
of Saint Mark, circa 1300-1310, that measures 5 1/4 by 4 inches
was executed circa 1300 and is in the collection of the J. Paul
Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The catalogue provides the following commentary about this work:

"Most likely removed from a Greek Gospel book, this portrait
of Mark shows the saint, author of the second Gospel, pausing
to sharpen his pen before he resumes copying the book before him.
Inspired by examples of Western illumination, the evangelist's
pose appears earlier in Armenian illumination and about 1300 in
Byzantine art. The delicately painted figure is framed by a broad
border of a deep blue pigment, surely made of lapis lazuli. As
is characteristic of Palaiologan illumination, the back of the
miniature is blank, perhaps indicating that the miniature was
tipped into an already written book."

Textiles are also included in the exhibition and many are very
impressive.

One of the most impressive textiles is an Aer' with the Holy Face
and Deesis from the Grand Prince's workshops in Moscow, 1389.
The 48 3/8-by-87-inch taffeta and dasmk embroidered with colored
silk thread and gold and silver thread. It is in the collection
of the State HIstorical Museum, Department of Textiles and Costume
in Moscow.This
quite delicate aer' is, the catalogue maintained, "marked
by great refinement and elegance." "The draped folds
of the clothing are outlined with gold and silver thread. The
effect of these outlines, set against the brightly colored surface
of the rest of the garments, is easily comparable to cloisonné
enamel. The figures of the angels are embroidered with equal finesse,
and their impeccable design is remarkable for its expressive elegance.
Finally, the color palette of the entire composition purple, white,
red, green, golden yellow, and violet, set against a warmly colored
background and combined with the golden shine of the halos produces
a triumphantly solemn effect. This unique piece is one of the
earliest dated works of the Moscow school of pictorial embroidery."

Embroidered
Liturgical Standard with Saint George Seated on a Throne, Romania,
circa 1500, gold and silver thread on silk, 49 ¼ by 38
¼ inches, Muzei National de Istorie a Romaniei, Bucharest

With his
crown with precious stones, St. George is here depicted seated
on a throne with his feet resting on his slain three-headed dragon.
Holding a large sword in his hands, the saint has a bemused visage,
as well he should.

The cover
illustration of the catalogue is a beautiful Icon with the Archangel
Gabriel, a large tempera on gold on wood panel in excellent condition
that is in the collection of the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine,
Sinai, Egypt.

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"One of the masterpieces of Byzantine art, this icon shows
the archangel Gabriel as a youth of extreme beauty. His graceful
posture and harmonious gestures, along with the calmness of his
face, are evocative of classical art.According to the eleventh-century
writer Michael Psellos, a fillet such as that around the curly
hair signified the purity, chastity and incorruptibility of the
angels. Gabriel's function as a messenger is indicated by the
walking staff he holds in his left hand, while makes a gesture
of adoration and supplication with his right hand. This icon is
undoubtedly part of larger group, probably forming a Deesis. It
was not unusual for angels to part of Deesis ensembles. The Sinai
Gabriel would have been paired with an icon of the archangel Michael,
which is also located today in the bema of the basilica at the
Monastery of Saint Catherine.The dating of the icon is problematic.
It is very likely that the icon was painted in Sinai, but this
cannot be confirmed. In any case, the high quality of the work
indicates a greatly skilled and talented artist, trained in a
major artistic center."

One of the
most spectacular works in the exhibition is the cover for the
Staurotheke of Cardinal Bessarion that is in the collection of
the Gallerie dell'Academia in Venice. The Byzantine piece is dated
to the second half of the 14th Century and consists of paint,
enamel, silver and previous stones on wood. It measures 16 ½
by 12 5/8 inches. The work "forms the sliding lid of a reliquary
of the True Cross," according to the catalogue, "that
was given by Cardinal Bessarion to the Scuola of Santa Maria dei
Battuti della Carita, a religious institution in Venice, before
his death in 1472. Attributed by some to an Italo-Byzantine school
in Venice, the painting shows many affinities with the metropolitan
art of Byzantium in the late fourteenth century. The scene of
the Crucifixion occurs in an elaborate setting that includes the
walls of Jerusalem and the rock of Calvary.Despite its miniature
proportions, the quality of the painting is very high and has
been related stylistically to the best examples of Byzantine art
of the fourteenth century."

The catalogue
provides the following commentary about the "Cambrai Madonna"
that is in the collection of the Cathedrale de Cambrai in France.

"In 1440, Canon Fursy de Bruille returned to Rome with a
painting of the Virgin and Child that he had received from Jean
Allarmet, cardinal of Brogny and legate of the pope to the Council
of Constance (1414-18). Believed at the time to have been made
by Saint Luke himself, the painting immediately became the object
of fervent devotion. After the canon gave the work to the Cathedral
of Cambrai, it was installed with great solemnity on the eve of
the Feast of the Assumption in 1451 in the Chapel of the Holy
Trinity. The cult of Notre-Dame de Grace (Our Lady of Grace) was
inaugurated in 1452, a confraternity was established in 1453 for
the care and veneration of the icon itself, which in 1455 was
carried for the first time in a procession to celebrate the Feast
of the Assumption. The Cambrai Madonna attracted thousands of
pilgrims, most notably dukes Philip the Good in 1457 and Charles
the Bold in 1460, as well as King Louis XI on repeated visits
in 1468, 1477 and 1478. Notre-Dame de Grace represents the Eleousa
type, the Virgin of Tenderness. The two figures are posed in a
loving embrace, their heads turned slightly toward the viewer.
The Child appears to squirm, his legs lightly kicking, as he grasps
his mother's maphorion with his left hand her chin with his right
hand. Although the blue, red and orangy-pink colors of the draperies
and the gold decorative effects and background recall earlier
Eastern models, the volumetric aspect of the draperies with soft
folds, the Latin inscriptions, and the elaborate punchwork of
the halos correspond to contemporary fourteenth century Italian
aesthetic modes. The border of the Virgin's maphorion shows indecipherable
pseudo-Arabic script. In modern times the Cambrai Madonna has
been considered an Italian copy after a Byzantine icon, probably
Sienese and perhaps from the circle of Ambrogio Lorenzetti. However,
certain unusual features of the painting's materials and technique
indicate a departure from a strictly traditional Italian approach.
While the direct model for the Cambrai Madonna is not known, Gunter
Passavant has noted a particular following of the type in Tuscany
at the time of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-45), suggesting
perhaps the presence of a Byzantine prototype there. A model may
also have existed in Rome at one of the churches displaying Byzantine
icons, which Fursy de Bruilly could have seen when he was serving
as secretary to the French cardinal.A testament to the remarkable
aura of the image is found in the number of copies of it that
were requested almost immediately upon its installation in the
Cathedral of Cambrai. In April 1454, Jean de Bourgogne, the count
of Estampes, commissioned three copies from Petrus Christus.In
June of 1455 the chapter of the cathedral ordered an additional
twelve copies of the icon from Hayne of Brussels."

It is unlikely that the work comes from the circle of Ambrogio
Lorenzetti as it is too clumsy.

One of the
most important European Renaissance paintings in the United States,
"Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin" by Rogier van der Weyden
in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is one
of the many outstanding highlights of the exhibition's last gallery
that contains many European masterworks from the Renaissance that
the exhibition and the catalogue maintain were influenced by Byzantine
art and the "Cambrai Madonna" in particular.

The catalogue provides the following commentary about this great
painting:

"The legend of Saint Luke as the official portraitist of
the Virgin originates in Byzantium in the sixth century, although
the genesis of the story is somewhat obscure. Hans Belting notes
that while Theodorus Lector's church history, in which he tells
of three churches dedicated to the Virgin that were founded by
Empress Pulcheria in about 450, can be considered reliable, the
account of a gift to Pulcheria from her sister-in-law Eudocia
in Jerusalem of an image of the Virgin painted by Saint Luke was
probably a later addition. Rather, the legend of Saint Luke may
have been initiated in one of Pulcheria's three churches that
owned a venerated Hodegetria icon, which also served as a relic,
as did the Virgin's mantle and girdle that were worshipped in
Pulcheria's two other churches. By the eighth century the legend
was more firmly established, as is testified by the fact that
Greek theologians were able to refer the Iconoclasts to an image
in Rome that, verifiably, were painted by Saint Luke. By the end
of the eleventh century the saint was connected with the renowned
Hodegetria icon in Constantinople. The depiction of Saint Luke
in the act of painting the portrait of the Virgin and Child appears
to have been codified by the thirteenth century; thereafter, several
extant Byzantine miniatures in illuminated books, such as the
one from the Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai show Luke with
paintbrush in hand and pigments and brushes at his side as he
adds the final touches to a picture of the Hodegetria Virgin.
In fifteenth-century Italy the iconography of Saint Luke as a
painter was not developed as it was in the north but remained
rather as an anecdotal feature along with other conventional types
of the Evangelist. The embrace of Saint Luke and his icons in
northern Europe was likely influenced by Jacobus da Voragine's
Golden Legend, which relates the tale of an icon of the Virgin
and Child painted by a saint and carried in a solemn procession
by order of Pope Gregory the Great; this icon was credited with
eliminating the plague in Rome. The text notes that this image
was still at that time in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in
Rome; this is probably the Byzantine icon known as the `Salus
Populi Romani' (Salvation of the Roman People). In the late Byzantine
world, the Hodegetria icon from the Hodegetria Monastery was the
most revered of those believed to have been painted by Saint Luke,
yet other icons increasingly earned that distinction because of
their renown as miracle-working images. In a parallel development
in the Low Countries that may well have been influenced by the
importation of Byzantine icons to the West, in particular from
Crete, certain types of the Virgin and Child were newly acknowledged
as having been painted by Saint Luke himself. Among these was
the Virgin nursing the child. This was above all fostered by Roger
van der Weyen's Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, one of the earliest
known depictions of this them in panel painting in the Low Countries.
Although the Galaktotrophousa Virgin (also known as the Virgo
lactans), is not often seen in Byzantine art, it apparently developed
as a type of personal icons in the late twelvth century, and,
according to Anthony Cutler, was cultivated in Constantinople.
The popularity of the Galaktotrophousa in the West, as in the
case of so many Byzantine icons, related specifically to the miracle-working
aspect of the image, in particular to legends about seriously
ill people to whom the Virgin miraculously appeared and who were
then cured with her milk. The cult of the Virgin's milk was among
the most widespread in late medieval Europe, fostered perhaps
by the relic of the Virgin's milk that joined twenty-one others
sent by Baldwin II of Flanders (emperor of Constantinople, 1228-61)
to Louis IX of France between 1239 and 1242, which were housed
in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.Rogier's Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin
illustrates the phenomenon of a Byzantine image less appreciated
in its own time than it was later on, when it achieved cult status
in the West. It is a prime example of the West's embrace not only
of this icon but also of an established mode of religious propaganda
that eventually promoted the Galaktotrophousa as one of the most
important and powerful icons of the Low Countries."

Virgin
and Child, Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula (Bruges, active
late 15th Century), oil on wood, last quarter of the 15th Century,
22 1/8 by 13 ½ inches, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan

The catalogue
notes that there are about 30 extant "variations" of
Rogier's Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, some of which are
replicas and some that merely focus on the nursing relationship
between the Virgin and Child. "Although early Coptic roots
have been suggested, the theme of the Galaktotrophousa in Byzantine
art developed in the period before Iconoclasm. By the second half
of the thirteenth century there was a lively cross-fertilization
of this type between East and West, exemplified by the icons from
Sinai and those in the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens.
While Byzantine artists showed a rather restrained expression
of the theme, Western painters boldly embraced it. The suckling
of Christ was first connected with the Incarnation by Saint John
Chrysostom, and early on was associated with Christ's Passion
by Saint Clement of Alexandria. Five of the extant half-length
versions of Rogier van der Weyden's Virgo lactans correspond
so closely in style and figural proportions that they were likely
produced from the same shared cartoon. The Metropolitan Museum
painting distinguishes itself from all the related copies as it
is the only one with a gold background presenting the Virgin in
a trompe-l'oeil niche. This seemingly archaic treatment responds
to devotional requirements for the authentic image that differ
from the criteria of other contemporary representations of the
same theme. The painter here returns the image to its status as
an icon by linking it with the gold-ground paintings of Byzantine
cult images."

The Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula was an extremely competent
painter whose technique far surpasses those in most Byzantine
icons and the gold background here is rendered with great three-dimensional
skill rather than as a flat background in most Byzantine icons.
The notion that Byzantine icons influenced some of the greatest
works of the Renaissance in Europe may not be preposterous but
is a bit far-fetched apart from gold backgrounds and the use of
the Virgin as a subject. This is not meant as a major criticism
of this wonderful exhibition as the European works included in
the last gallery are glorious.

Virgin
and Child with Saints Barbara and Elizabeth and Jan Vos, by Jan
van Eyck (active by 14223-bruges, d. 1441) and workshop, oil on
wood, transferred to canvas, transferred to Masonite press work
with oak veneer and cradled, circa 1441-3, 18 5/8 by 24 1/8 inches,
The Frick Collection, New York

Indeed,
this last gallery contains what is perhaps the finest painting
in New York City, Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child with Saints
Barbara and Elizabeth and Jan Vos that is in The Frick Collection
in New York.

The catalogue
provides the following commentary:

"The
aura of Byzantine icons and their assimilation into the mainstream
of Flemish painting is exemplified by the Virgin and Child with
Saints Barbara and Elizabeth and Jan Vos. Likely begun by Jan
van Eyck at the very end of his career and completed by a workshop
assistant, this painting shows the assembled holy figures and
the donor Jan Vos in a contemporary setting - a loggia of a grand
mansion with a view to a meticulously rendered, naturalistic Flemish
landscape beyond....What is notable for the context of the current
exhibition is that the Virgin and Child assume an adapted pose
of the highly revered Hodegetria type, a particularly appropriate
choice for Jan Vos's painting. The famed Hodegetria of Constantinople
was a palladium, or safeguard, of that city, and the example at
Santa Maria Maggiore, known as the 'Salus Populi Romani'...."

"Virgin
and Child at the Fountain," by Workshop of Jan van Eyck,
oil on panel, circa 1440, Robert Noortman collection, Maastricht

Another
beautiful work is "Virgin and Child at the Fountain"
that the catalogue attributes to the Workshop of Jan van Eyck.
It is in the Robert Noortman collection in Maastricht. The catalogue
notes that "the export of icons from Crete to the Netherlands
is documented and it is perhaps by this means that such a prototype
became known in Flanders," adding that "The Cretan examples
in particular appear to share their formal characteristics most
closely with Jan van Eyck's Virgin and Child at the Fountain
in the Koninklijke Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp..., and
with the workshop copy discussed here, including the similar poses
of the figures (though in reverse and full - rather than half-length)
and the attending angels at the top of the composition. The Antwerp
Virgin and Child at the Fountain has been referred to as
one of the earliest instances of the adoption by the Netherlandish
artist of a Byzantine icon type. It is one of two religious paintings
by Jan van Eyck...that carry pseudo-Greek letters in the inscriptions
on the frames, thus suggesting an Eastern origin...."